The leaves are opposite, smooth, narrow, pointed, of a rupous color above, and green on the under side.  They have a very aromatic odor when bruised between the fingers.  The flowers produced in branched peduncles, at the extremity of the bough, are of a delicate peach color.  The elongated calyx, forming the seed vessel, first changes to yellow, and, when ripe, red, which is from October to December, and in this state it is fit to gather.  If left for a few weeks longer on the trees, they expand, and become what are termed “mother cloves,” fit only for seed or for candying.  The ground under the tree is first swept clean, or else a mat or cloth is spread.  The nearest clusters are taken off with the hand, and the more distant by the aid of crooked sticks.  Great care should be taken not to injure the tree, as it would prevent future bearing.

The cloves are then prepared for shipment by smoking them on hurdles near a slow wood fire, to give them a brown color, after which they are further dried in the sun.  They may then be cut off from the flower branches with the nails, and will be found to be purple colored within, and fit to be baled for the European market.  In some places they are scalded in hot water before being smoked, but this is not common.  The tree may be propagated either from layers or seed.  Layers will root in five or six months if kept moist.

A strong dark loam, a gravelly, sandy, or clayey soil, but one not retentive of moisture, seems that best suited for its successful culture.

It does not thrive well near the sea, nor in the higher mountains, the spray of the sea and the cold being found injurious.  The plants at first require the shade of other trees, such as the mango, coco-nut, &c.  Although generally a hardy plant, it suffers from excessive drought.  They should be planted about twenty feet apart.  In its native country the tree begins to yield fruit in the sixth year, but a crop can seldom be looked for in other quarters under eight years.  It is very long lived, sometimes attaining the age of 130 years.

There appears, according to Mr. Crawfurd, to be five varieties of the clove, viz.—­the ordinary cultivated clove; a kind called the female clove by the natives, which has a pale stem; the kiri or loory clove; the royal clove, which is very scarce, and the wild clove.  The three first are equally valuable as spices, the female clove being considered fittest for the distillation of essential oil.  The wild clove, having scarcely any aromatic flavor, is valueless.

The produce which may be expected from the tree seems to be uncertain; it may, however, be averaged at five or six pounds.  A clove tree, well weeded and taken care of, will produce from five to twenty pounds.  On the other hand, a tree that is neglected will not give above two or three pounds.  At intervals of from three to six years they usually produce one extraordinary crop, but then a year now and then intervenes, when they yield none at all; in others they will afford a double harvest.